Unpretentiousness is as much a core ingredient of Fastball as cayenne is of chili.<\/p>\n
It starts with the title of their ninth studio album: Sonic Ranch<\/i>, named for the west Texas studio where the band gathered to record these 10 tunes. I mean, sure\u2014why not? Then there\u2019s the album cover design, which consists of two color photos of the trio hanging out at said ranch that look more like scrapbook snapshots than album artwork. There\u2019s even a black and white on the inside of the guys waiting at an airport luggage carousel. Oh, the glamour of rock and roll!<\/p>\n
No, this band\u2014which consists, as always, of singer-songwriters Miles Zuniga (vocals, guitars) and Tony Scalzo (vocals, bass, guitar, keys), with Joey Shuffield (drums, percussion) manning the kit\u2014is like your favorite greasy spoon diner. The fact that you have a pretty good idea going in what you\u2019re gonna get is part of the charm, because you know you\u2019re gonna like it, and it will definitely fill you up.<\/p>\n
The latest in a series of strong latter-day albums from the band opens with lead single \u201cRather Be Me Than You,\u201d a Scalzo number that\u2019s classic Fastball: hooky and punchy and instantly hummable, with a sardonic lyric about a compulsive liar who\u2019s constantly racing to cover their own tracks. Depending on your mood and circumstances, you could interpret it as being about a treacherous ex, a duplicitous frenemy, or an infamous political figure.<\/p>\n
Shifting gears as they are wont to, the boys follow with Zuniga\u2019s suitably airy-and-spacy \u201cDaydream,\u201d a pushing rock number that reminds of Fountains of Wayne\u2019s \u201cSuper Collider.\u201d Then Zuniga\u2019s White Album<\/i>-esque \u201cHummingbird\u201d offers an insightful, incisive look at a person on the run from themself: \u201cYou\u2019ve seen everything you can see \/ Still it doesn\u2019t make you happy\u2026 Are you afraid of what you\u2019ll find \/ If you sit still with your mind?\u201d <\/p>\n
The sharp, punchy \u201cGet You Off My Mind\u201d features the solo and unison lead vocals that make Fastball such a rich listening experience: Scalzo and Zuniga\u2019s voices are distinct enough to be different yet similar enough to be complementary, and it\u2019s a beautiful thing when their voices coalesce around a memorable vocal melody. Meanwhile, the propulsion that Sheffield and Scalzo generate in the rhythm section makes for delicious power-pop goodness, topped off with some pleasantly crinkly guitar near the close.<\/p>\n
The remainder of the album sees the trio delving into a series of familiar yet welcome sonic frames. \u201cGrey Skies Blue\u201d is Zuniga\u2019s requisite Dylanesque ballad, leading into the co-written, cinematic surf-noir number \u201cAmerica.\u201d (I\u2019ve gotta believe these guys watched a lot of midnight movies in their day\u2026) The song also serves as a biting satirical critique of the present moment, which is a neat trick, because how do you satirize a reality that already feels like satire? Next up, \u201cLet Love Back In Your Heart\u201d starts in fourth gear, a driving, sunny Scalzo number. <\/p>\n
\u201cOn And On\u201d takes its time developing, but it\u2019s worth the wait for this airy, loose map of a relationship that drifts in and out of focus as time passes (\u201cThe years flew like a bullet from a gun \/ And time don\u2019t mean a thing when you’re young\u201d), building to a rich, thrumming crescendo. \u201cThe Island Of Me\u201d offers another of Zuniga\u2019s lonely, dusty, gently melodramatic numbers.<\/p>\n
Closer \u201cI\u2019ll Be On My Way\u201d adopts a late-night-lounge-singer-at-the-piano vibe for a winking Scalzo tune about a loan shark who\u2019s feeling wistful about his work. \u201cYou needed a favor, I came to your aid \/ You always knew that I expected to be paid\u2026 I\u2019d never turn my back on you, why do you hide from me? \/ Come on, you\u2019re above this, show a little dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time around, Fastball benefits from strong support from producers David Garza (Fiona Apple) and John Fields (Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus), who help fill out these arrangements with keyboards and guitars, not to mention marimba and accordion. It\u2019s always distinctively Fastball, but with added variety and texture to the arrangements.<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ve come to expect, the heart of Sonic Ranch<\/i> lies in its smart hooks and savvy lyrics that offer insight and punchlines in equal abundance. And if after almost three decades in the game Fastball can sometimes start to feel a little familiar, this listener is a hundred percent good with that. There are times in life when rock and roll comfort food is exactly what you want\u2014or even what you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6028],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46939","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-fastball","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46939"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}